1|Page

Betfair Unlocked
Concepts of the Betfair Secret Manual

Http://www.BetfairSecret.com

Copyright 2007 Betfair Secret

2|Page

Table of Contents

The Betting Exchanges

Page 03

The Betting Odds Explained

Page 05

European Method

Page 06

British Method

Page 06

Betfair Busted

Page 07

The Markets

Page 09

Configuring Betfair

Page 10

Backing

Page 11

Laying

Page 12

Placing a Bet

Page 14

Trading

Page 15

Liquidity

Page 17

Weight of the Money

Page 19

Unmatched Money & The Markets

Page 20

3|Page

The Betting Exchanges

I'm sure that most of you are already aware of what the
Betting Exchanges involve as well as what they are. If not, the
betting exchanges provide a virtual market place for punters
from around the world to bet against one another in various
sporting events.
The betting exchanges have recently evolved and it all started
with the most popular exchange of them all: Betfair.
One of the most unique characteristics about the exchanges, is
that they allow anybody to bet in play and the addition of
lay bets allowing you to bet against a certain event
happening, thus putting you in the shoes of the bookmaker.
This refers to betting while an event is going on which means
the odds change accordingly to what is happening to the event
in play.
The betting exchanges allow you to make as much money as
you want due to the fact that they lose nothing! They just take
a slice of commission off of every bet that you win.
This means that the exchanges cannot lose and in turn means
they are very profitable. In light of this they will never lose
out which means that the betting exchanges will be around for
a very long time and enable you to build your fortune using
them as a medium.
All of the various betting exchanges provide bets in two forms.
Back bets and Lay bets. Backing allows a punter to bet on a
selection to win, while laying allows a punter to bet on a
selection to lose.
Here of are a few of the most popular exchanges around the

4|Page

internet. This manual is Betfair centric as well as the actual

Betfair Secret manual. We strongly recommend you get a
Betfair account though.

http://www.betfair.com

http://www.betdaq.com

http://www.betsson.com

http://www.ibetx.com

http://www.backandlay.com

http://www.parabet.com

5|Page

The Odds
The odds Also known as prices are basically the essence of
betting. They decide on our profits, losses and theoretical
chances of winning or losing a bet.
A favourite has the shortest priced odds, in other words the
lowest odds of all the other competitors in a race for example.
The outsider is the selection with the highest odds. There are
two widely known representation of the odds.
The European method and the British method.
The European method displays the odds in decimal format.
The Betting exchanges all use decimals to display their odds.
The British method displays the odds as fractions. Something
everyone should take note of, is that the odds on the betting
exchanges tend to trade at higher prices. This is known as
Overround, which is the extra money standard bookmakers
take.
This higher price is not always a true reflection due to the
fact that Betfair takes a 5% commission on everything that is
won. Another pointer about the odds on the betting
exchanges, is that they tend fluctuate constantly. For example
a selection priced at 3.0 can suddenly move to 2.98 and then
up to 3.05 within a matter of seconds. It all depends on the
money coming in on either back or lay side.
On the next page, I will run through the main differences
between the two methods of displaying odds, including a few
examples.

6|Page

European Method - (decimals)

Decimal odds, which are used on all the betting exchanges
such as Betfair, are displayed in decimal format. Odds such as
3.20, 1.22 and 1.65 are displayed on the various exchanges.
The odds on the exchanges range from 1.01 to 1000. 1.01
being the lowest possible odds to take and 1000 being the
highest available price. When you have odds of 1.01 you
should heavily expect to win and virtually never lose. Odds or
1000 you have no chance.
British Method - (fractions)
The British method, which is used by most standard
bookmakers such as bet365, Coral and so on, display their
odds as fractions, in the form of 4/1, 7/4 and 9/4. When you
get odds of 1/1, this is said to be evens which is the
equivalent of 2.0 in decimal form. Anything less that 1/1, such
as 1/3. These odds are not too important seeing we wont be
using them when applying the system because the system is
Betfair, or in other words, Betting exchange orientated.
To Convert from fractions to decimal odds you do the
following:
Take the fraction such as 7/4.
Take the top and divide by the bottom.
7 divided by 4 = 1.75
Now take your answer and add 1.0
1.75 + 1.0 = 2.75

7|Page

Betfair Unlocked
Betfair is the biggest of all the exchanges. It has by the most
registered users compared to the rest of the exchanges and
there are tens of thousands of people who place bets in the
various available markets on a 24/7 basis. All Betfair does is
supply the user interface and keep track of where every
punters money is going. They take a commission on
everything you win.
If you were to point your browser to http://sports.betfair.com
you would see the following screen:

8|Page

Towards the top of the screen you will see a Join Now link.
Click this link. It will then bring up a box where you have to
fill in your various details in order to register an account.
While entering your details, you will also see a refer and
earn box.
All you have to do is type in the code 6QK7GREQF which will
give you a free 20.
This happens once you have reached 50 Betfair points. This is
roughly the equivalent of staking 100.
Once you have registered on the site, have a look around and
get used to the general layout. On the left hand side of the
screen, you will notice the various sporting events, listed in
alphabetical order.

9|Page

The Markets

When you open

http://sports.betfair.com
This screen can be found on the
left hand side of the Betfair
introduction / homepage
screen. If you have still not
registered, please do so ASAP at
http://sports.betfair.com and
use the sign up code.
The purpose of the Trade
Formula Manual is related to
Horse racing. You will notice I
have highlighted the two horse
racing markets in a red block on
the screenshot to the left of this
description.
We will now begin discussing
the more important factors
relating to Betfair such as
backing, laying and trading.

10 | P a g e

Configuring Betfair
This configuration setup will allow you to know how much
profit you stand to make and how much money you stand to
lose. It is very simple to configure.

In every single Betfair market, there is a refresh button. Just

above the button is the options menu. Click this menu.

Tick all the available boxes in order to make you profits /

losses display. This will be useful later on.

11 | P a g e

Backing

Backing is a fairly easy concept to understand. It is the same

method as placing a bet with a standard bookmaker, such as
Bet 365 and so on.
Backing means that you are betting on a selection to win. The
back odds can be seen in the purple/bluish

Take the above screenshot for example, say we wanted to back

the favourite, Benny The Bus in this race. The odds as you
can see, are at 1.83. If we were to put 100 on the favourite
and it were to end up winning the race, we would make a total
of 183,00. This includes a profit of 83,00 minus the 100
stake money.
For another example, say we placed 10 on Mister Jingles at
8.2. If Mister Jingles were to go on and win the race, we
would win 82.00 minus our 10 stake which is a profit of
72.

12 | P a g e

Laying

Laying works in a completely different manner to backing. It

virtually allows you to act as the bookmaker. This is not as
much of a difficult concept than you may think, seeing many
people fail to grasp lay betting.

Lay betting is betting on a specific event Not to happen.

Take the screenshot as an example below
In this screenshot, the favourite Jost Van Dyke has odds of
2.72 to LAY (note the highlighted block). Please note that the
lay column is situated on the right and is highlighted in pink
for anyone who is unsure.
If we were to place a 10 LAY bet on Jost Van Dyke, we are
saying that the horse will not win this race. However, placing
10 pounds has an advantage and disadvantage.

13 | P a g e

Advantage: You will win 10 back instantly

Disadvantage: You can loose 2.72 x 10 (minus stake money)
This is known as your liability. It is the amount of money you
may lose if the selection ends up winning a race.
To calculate liability, take the odds. In this case, they are 2.7
and multiply them by your stake, which is 10. This gives you
a total of 27. You must then subtract your 10 stake, which
would give you a total of 17.
This 17 is the amount you would be liable for, if Jost Van
Dyke were to WIN this race. If it were to not win, you would
make the amount that you staked. In this case it would have
been another 10. It is risky, but can be a very profitable
betting method if you learn to use it correctly and at the right
time.

14 | P a g e

Placing a Bet
Let us take the following market as the example here.
Say for example, we want to back Benny the Bus. To place
our bet, click on the purple back bet option. Youll notice the
block indents it a bit on the odds of 1.81.

You will then see a betting box popup on the right hand side
of your screen. See the below screenshot.

You will notice the box is arranged in order of selection name,

then the odds and then the stake box.
Next to the odds youll notice an up and down arrow. It allows
you to change the odds there if you want to request a higher
back odds price.
Once you enter your stake in the stake box, click the submit
button which is located at the bottom right of the window.

15 | P a g e

Trading
This is a very important section as it forms the core system of
the Betfair System.
The backbone of trading is placing a back and lay bet on the
same selection. The only difference is that the odds for the
BACK bet must be higher for the odds of the LAY back.
To give you an example using calculations:
Lets say there is a horse race.
The horse is priced at 2.90 to back and 2.92 to lay.
Say we place a 100 back bet at 2.90.
100 x 2.90 = 290 the stake which is a profit of 190. Lets
say the odds for the horse now drop down to 2.30. We then
place a 100 lay bet at odds of 2.30.
100 x 2.30 = 230 the stake which is a liability of 130
Profit Liability = Trade
190 - 130 = 60
This will mean if the selection were to win the race we would
make 60. If the selection were to lose the race we would
break even, which is how trading actually works.
Take the following screenshot as an example. (note Betfair
commission is deducted)

16 | P a g e

Please note that the first screen shot came just after the start
of a race. The second screenshot was during the race. This will
explain why the odds are so different and the difference
between the back/lay amounts in column two are so large.

Say we placed a 10 lay bet on Gaelic Flight at odds of 2.8, as

you can see, if the horse wins the race we will be payout out
18 as our liability. If it does not win, we will be winning 10.
The next screenshot shows how the odds have changed over a
few seconds. Say we were to now place a back bet of 10 at
odds of 4.4. This profit would be 34, if the horse were to win

Now, seeing these two bets have both taken place on the same
horse, the outcome will be as follows. 1 lay bet of 10 at odds
of 2.8, giving us a liability of 18 and 1 back bet of 10 at odds
of 4.4, giving us a potential profit of 32.30. This would be a
trade (had it been on the same horse). We would then be left
with Profit (32.30) Liability (18) = trade 32.30 - 18 =
14.30 (as seen below)

This means if Gaelic Flight wins, you make 14.30 profit. It he

loses, you break even. This is a free bet! In other words, an
actual trade!

17 | P a g e

Liquidity
Market liquidity refers to how much money is in a market and
is going into a market at a specific time. Some markets are of
high liquidity while others are low. It basically depends on the
popularity of an event.
A British horse race has a massively high liquidity. Close to
about 700,000 pounds is traded on it before the off. Another
event with a very high liquidity is an English premier league
football match.
Low liquidity events such as the greyhound races and
American horse races, only have a few thousand pounds
traded on them.
The difference between the two liquidity markets is that in a
high liquidity market, price changes do not happen at a rapid
pace, compared to the low liquidity markets where price
changes are very common and can jump from 3.2 to 4.5
within a matter of seconds.
A good place to spot whether or not a market is of high
liquidity is the amount of matched money on the market.
This figure appears just below the refresh button on that
specific Betfair market.

18 | P a g e

Weight of the Money

Prices on Betfair are influenced by the amount of people
backing and laying a selection.
More money in the back column means the price will RISE.
More money in the lay column means the price will FALL.
This is determined by the amounts of money coming in on
either side of the back and lay columns, basically known as
liquidity, as already discussed.
If there is more money in the back column, the price is going
to rise once the money has been matched. If there is more
money in the lay column, the price is going to fall.
Take this screenshot below as an example

Applying the concepts highlighted in bold above, you will

notice that there is by far more money in the lay column that
the back column which means the price of the selection is
going to fall.
A few seconds later the screenshot will look like this:

You will notice that the weight of the money concept has
cause the price to fall because punters are all scrambling over

19 | P a g e

one another trying to get in their best bets forcing the price
down.
In other words it means far more people are trying to BACK
this horse than lay it which causes no one to want to match
the odds by laying. This means punters who are backing the
horse are forced to place lower odd bets in the hope they get
matched.

20 | P a g e

Unmatched Money & How Exchanges Work

This is a concept that not many people understand. Exactly
how the exchanges work and the unmatched money figures.
Take the below example screenshot

Say you wanted to place a lay bet at odds of 2.64 for 10.
There is 23 waiting to be matched at odds of 2.64.
This means that someone is trying to back the horse of odds at
2.64 and is waiting for someone to come match it by laying it.
The same goes for the back odds of 2.62. There is 46 waiting
to be matched. If you were to place a back bet of 2.62 for 10,
you are just matching somebodys lay bet of 2.62.
If you tried to place a BACK bet of 10 at odds of 2.64, your
money would appear in the LAY column of 2.64 and your 10
would be added to that 23 which is still waiting to be
matched.
If you placed a BACK bet of say 2.68, for 100, your money
would be added to the lay column side under 2.68 and the
amount of money underneath the odds would then read
1221, unless some of it gets matched during the time of
placing the bet. This is unlikely due to the fact that it is 3rd in
the queue.